


the road so far

by bicroft



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Hunters, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-06
Updated: 2018-10-06
Packaged: 2019-07-25 21:03:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16205621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bicroft/pseuds/bicroft
Summary: Noah's a small time hunter, faced with big time problems: demons, rituals, hellmouths- and, a blue-eyed angel who doesn't know how to take a hint.





	the road so far

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hfleury](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hfleury/gifts).



Rolling into Siler City, Noah would’ve never been able to tell that it was a town in trouble. It looked like any number of the small towns he rolled through on hunts: a main street, lined with little antique shops, bakeries, mom and pop general stores, residential homes dotting the sides of the street as he got farther from the town center, and one auto repair shop at both ends of the town stretch. The sun was just starting to set, and if he gave much of a damn about small towns, Noah might even say it was pretty.

 

What was happening _in_ Siler City? That was anything but.

 

He rolled up to the motel at the edge of town as the last of the sun was setting; the only thing out of place there was the man behind the front desk, who looked like he’d just rolled out of bed at seven o’clock in the evening- not that Noah made any comment on it. He signed a fake name, paid in cash, and hefted his duffle bag higher on his shoulder as he made his way to his room.

 

He didn’t make much note of the room, partially because there didn’t seem to be anything _of_ note in the room, and partially because, if he _did_ start looking around, Noah was pretty sure he was going to be forced to identify _several_ mystery stains before his head hit the pillow that night, and that wouldn’t do anything to help him sleep. Before that, though? There was work to be done.

 

He dropped his duffle bag in the corner, metal clanking as it hit the ground and probably concerning his next door neighbors, if he had any; he had no doubts that the wall between his room and next were paper thin. Then again, if the motel had any other tenants, he was sure they were by the hour, and the noises next door would be the last of their worries.

 

Pulling his laptop out of his bag, he settled into the corner desk and booted it up, hoping to god that the motel’s signage promoting ‘Free WI-FL’ wasn’t full of shit. It was the only place he’d seen rolling through town that looked anywhere close to promising- another reason Noah hated small towns. In Boston, or New York- or, hell, even _Raleigh,_ there was the promise of a Starbucks ever twenty feet to keep him going, and make it easier for him to get at least a little research done. The public library here closed at six, and even if it _was_ open, Noah wasn’t holding his breath that they’d have decent bandwidth.

 

When he opened the lid of his laptop, he had to brush aside a few newspaper clippings and the envelope they’d been sent to him in. He never got why the hell Faulk never just used e-mail, like someone who _didn’t_ live in the Dark fucking Ages, but a lot of old fashioned hunters were like that, especially when you went farther south. He should probably be grateful that Faulk _called_ \- or, left a voicemail, at least- about the lead right after he sent the clippings through snail mail, so Noah didn’t have to spend the whole week it took to get to him sitting on his hands. “Dunno if it’s your gig,” he’d said- no ‘hello’, ‘it’s Justin’, ‘how’re things?’- “But, there’s been a spate of probable demon activity just outside of Raleigh. There’s only one of my guys in the area, but I think it’s gonna be a little too big for just one dude to handle.”

 

Faulk had been right about one thing: demons weren’t Noah’s usual faire. He’d only really been hunting for a few years, and demons had always seemed a little above his pay grade. Mostly, he stuck to small game ghosts and hauntings, maybe a few low-grade monsters here and there. He’d met Faulk and some of his network when he’d stumbled onto a vampire nest and gotten a little in over his head. That’d been his first interaction with other hunters, and since he _definitely_ owed one to Faulk big time, he’d decided to take this demon thing anyway. If there was another guy on it, it probably wouldn’t be too bad, and Noah had met Trevor before. He’d seemed like a solid guy.

 

There’d been three deaths in and around the city in the past few weeks, all of them gruesome enough that Noah had only really been able to skim the details before he’d had to put the reports aside, least he ruin the takeout he’d just ordered- and, if the history of the area was any indication, there’d be three more coming before the summer was over. It seemed a little like the plot of a B-roll horror movie to Noah; six murders, happening in batches of three over the past eighteen years- six, and then a six year gap, and then another six, and now? Three more, obviously building.

 

Noah knew demons had a thing for numbers, but like- 666? Could they _get_ any more stereotypical?

 

Stereotypes or not, though, they were still piling up dead bodies, and once they got to the end of their pattern- well. Noah didn’t have any idea what was going to happen, but he sure as hell didn’t want to find out, either. So, he and Trevor were gonna have to figure out what the hell the motive was here, and how the hell they were going to stop it.

 

Luckily, Trevor _wasn’t_ a caveman, and when Noah checked his email, there was a message waiting for him; a time and a place for them to meet tomorrow, at some café downtown. He’d been in town longer than Noah had been, trying to piece together some kind of a pattern, and hopefully he’d gotten farther than Noah had been able to when he tried to play armchair detective on the ride down here.

 

There wasn’t much to catch up on, other than that; Noah left Faulk a message to tell him that he’d gotten into down, even though he was pretty sure Faulk wasn’t going to be returning it. He was pretty much always in the wind, on one hunt or another- as far as Noah knew, he’d been in the game for at least a decade now, though he didn’t know how he’d gotten into it or even what he was up to, usually. When Faulk called, you answered, and otherwise, you left sleeping dogs to lie.

 

After another twenty minutes of clicking and searching that lead him basically nowhere, Noah was forced to give up the ghost and flop his way into bed to at least make an attempt at sleeping. He wasn’t used to having to wait on other people to start a hunt. Usually, for him, in was in and out, spending maybe a night in a town, if that. Ghosts were like that; they were typically pretty easy to draw out, and even easier to deal with, if he did his research early and tied up all of the loose ends on the way. Demon, though- those were a long game. You had to unravel clues, figure out what kind of demon they were, what they wanted, and then just hope like hell that they didn’t end up finding you before you found them.

 

Noah fucking _hated_ dealing with demons.

 

He briefly contemplated maybe calling his family before he went to bed; it’d been awhile since he’d given it a go, and maybe, this time, he might even stay on the line when they picked up the phone- or, he could call Jack. He knew he’d usually answer, and they could have some kind of stilted conversation that just left Noah wishing he could take back what he’d had while he was still up in college at Boston. He didn’t really feel like wallowing in self pity all night before a hunt like this, though, so he shelved the idea, and forced himself to close his eyes and wish for a dreamless sleep.

 

Hoping, for once, seemed to work, and Noah actually managed to wake up on his own the next morning and not feel like he was dying. Not knocking yourself out with alcohol or tossing and turning with nightmares seemed to do wonders for his body; who knew?

 

He’d woken up a little earlier than necessary, which gave him enough time to shower and go downstairs to see what the motel offered for their promised ‘GOOD BRKFST.’ The same sleepy-looking guy who’d checked him in seemed to be setting up the array of dry cereals, and gave Noah a look when he came down, almost like he was surprised to see him, and Noah just glared him down until he ducked his head and left.

 

Two bowls of Froot Loops and several games of mobile phone solitaire later, Noah figured that he’d killed enough time, and he gave one last glance to the guy who’d check him in as he walked past the desk, where he’d re-assumed his position, half-asleep and staring at the television across from him in the lobby. Noah spared him only a passing glance on his way out to his car, but he was sure he heard the guy mumble a “have a good day” as the door closed behind him.

 

Trevor stood to greet him once he got to the small-town coffee shop, pulling Noah into a bro-hug and smiling as they sat. “Good to see you again, man,” he said, and Noah just grimly nodded.

 

“Dunno if anything about the situation is _good_ ,” he said.

 

Trevor’s smile went a little thin. “Probably not,” he said. “But, it’s nice not to be alone on this; honestly, I dunno if I could handle it.”

  
“You ever hunt demons before?” Noah asked.

 

“Only small-time,” Trevor said, shrugging. “A few minor crossroads demons, some guys that were going rogue- but, nothing like this, nothing… ritualistic. You saw the pattern, right?”

 

“Six-six, and probably six, now,” Noah said, nodding. “They aren’t exactly being too subtle about it.”

 

“Not even a little, no,” Trevor huffed. “I’ve been trying to pick out a pattern of victims, but, no dice. It seems pretty random to me; women, men, all ages, all races, all walks of life.”

 

“Which means that the people aren’t important.” Noah hummed, and paused for a moment. “Was there anything weird about the deaths?”

 

“I went and played FBI at the local coroner’s office earlier.” Trevor leaned down to pull something from the laptop bag that was sitting at his feet, and slid a file folder across to Noah. The folder was bursting with papers, but it only took Noah looking through a few to figure out the pattern.

 

“Exsanguination.” That wasn’t surprising; a lot of rituals required blood, but- “Gotta be a pretty big thing, if they need this much blood.”

 

“That’s what I’m saying,” Trevor said. “It’s hard to tell what, but-”

 

“But, you’ve got an idea?” Noah was mostly just _hoping_ Trevor did, because he _really_ didn’t.

 

“All about location.” Trevor said. “I think it’s got something to do with a local… _attraction_ seems like a really weird way to say it. You could call it a landmark, I guess?”

 

This time, he pulled his laptop itself from the bag, and after a few clicks and keystrokes, he turned it around and presented a webpage proudly titled _The Devil’s Tramping Ground_.

 

“According to legend,” Trevor said, probably reading the clear ‘ _are you fucking kidding me_ ’ look on Noah’s face. “The place is supposed to be where the Devil walks at night- nothing grows there, animals won’t come into the circle, and anyone who spends then night there loses their mind.”

 

“Right.” Noah wasn’t convinced. “And, according to fact?”

 

Trevor hummed. “Scientific, or supernatural? Scientifically, they can’t explain it; anything planted there either never grows, or just dies. Supernaturally- we _think_ it might lay over a dormant hellmouth.”

 

 _That_ got Noah’s attention, his eyebrows shooting to his hairline. “Hellmouth- like, an actual portal to Hell-hellmouth?”

 

“We _think_ ,” Trevor said. “But- it makes sense.”

 

“So, the demons are trying to… what? Reopen the portal?” Noah’s brow was furrowed, now, in question.

 

“Or something,” Trevor said. “That’s where it gets- iffy. Hellmouths are a think, and demon rituals are a thing, but no one seems to know anything about demonic rituals for _opening_ hellmouths- or, at least, not anyone who’s alive to talk about it.”

 

“Fair enough,” Noah said. “So, we’ve got a pattern, and potential hellmouth ritual- any idea of a timeline?”

“The last sets of six, the murders took place over a span of three weeks” Trevor said, “Three one week, and then a break, and three the next week. We’re about two days into the break, now, so that gives us five days to figure out what the hell our next move it.”

 

“Have you been to the Tramping Ground?” Noah asked, and Trevor shook his head. “That seems like the next step then; we can maybe camp there overnight- outside the circle, if nothing else, to just see what’s going on.”

 

“Sounds good to me,” Trevor said, and the fact that he actually seemed to _mean_ that made Noah question his sanity just a little bit.

 

 _Getting_ to the Tramping Ground was more hellish than the actual place itself. Noah had to park his car off the side of a dirt-paved back road and _hike_ to the damn place, hauling all the gear he could carry on his back. These were the parts of hunting that he hated more than any other; he didn’t mind the ghosts, or the monsters, or even the _demons_ , but all the walking? _That_ was evil beyond any he’d ever known before.

 

Trevor, the bastard, seemed to actually enjoy the walk, catching Noah up on what he’d been missing, being so disconnected with Faulk and his merry network of hunters. “Demon activity’s been up all around the southeast,” he said. “Justin and Jeff managed to triangulate it, which is part of how we found out about this place. There’d be more of us here, but, everyone else is trying to handle the smaller pop-ups.”

 

Noah just nodded and hummed. He was glad there wasn’t a whole team of hunters crawling through town; it would making keeping lowkey a hellva lot harder- and, Noah just personally didn’t like dealing with a lot of people. He never cared much for having six guys on a job he could very well handle himself; two was safety, any more was a crowd.

 

All that being said- the sun had started to set as they came up on the clearing, and Noah couldn’t help the shiver that went up his spine when they came across the empty clearing that marked the Tramping Grounds in the otherwise dense woods. There was nothing there- not a single weed or blade of grass. No insects crawled across the ground or flew through the air, and it seemed like all the sounds of the forest cut off here, like someone had abruptly cranked the volume on the whole world to zero.

 

Devil or otherwise, there was something _wrong_ going on here.

 

“So do we just… set up and wait?” Trevor asked, dropping his bags down just outside of the circle.

 

Noah hummed again, half nodding as he started to pace around the perimeter of the circle. When he leaned down, he could _feel_ the heat coming off of the ground, another shiver pushing down his spine, hairs on the back of his neck standing on end.

 

 _Wrong_.

 

“Probably,” he said, finally speaking. “Dunno what we’re _looking_ for, but- if we’re lucky, we’ll find something, and if not- we’ll just have to keep coming back, I guess.”

 

“I guess.” Trevor echoed, sighing as he started to set up their tent.

 

They decided to take turns keeping watch, Noah taking the first shift while Trevor tried to get some sleep. He _hated_ sitting up outside, but, he knew he probably wasn’t going to get any sleep anyway; there was definitely something about this place that kept him on guard more than any other place he’d ever been. No wonder there were so many stories of people losing their minds after staying here.

 

It had to have been about midnight when Noah heard rustling in the brush,  just as he was moving to switch out watch with Trevor. “Dude,” he hissed, shaking the other hunter awake. “Wake up, I think there’s something coming?”

 

“Wassit?” Trevor blinked, looking sleepy for a half second, and then snapping to attention once the murmurs got even louder. “Oh, _fuck_.”

 

They were both on their feet just moments before two figures entered the clearing, and it didn’t take Noah very long at all to peg them as demons- it could’ve been the all-black void of their eyes, or it could’ve been their identical business suits that gave them away; it didn’t matter. The demons saw them only seconds after, and the taller of the two’s smile made Noah’s stomach churn.

 

“Guess we don’t have to go very far tonight,” he said to the other, sliding forward as Noah and Trevor both went for their knives. “Hunters, I’m guessing? What an unlucky pair you two are, stumbling on something you can’t even _begin_ to understand, much less _stop_.”

 

“Fuck off,” Noah said, but all that did was make the demon laugh.

 

“What do you think?” he said, addressing his partner again. “We kill one tonight, and save the other one for tomorrow? That way, we’ve got leftovers- all it does is make the ritual easier.”

 

The other demon shrugged. “Fine by me,” he said, and started approaching as well.

 

Noah was a good fighter- a _great_ fighter, even, but it didn’t take long to figure that these demons were a little above his pay grade; a normal crossroads demon, he could handle no problem, but these guys? These guys were something beyond that, for sure.

 

He didn’t even realize he’d been stabbed until he felt something dripping onto his shoe, and looked to see the knife buried in his chest. Fuck. _Fuck_. This wasn’t how he was supposed to go- not yet, anyway.

 

What was _Jack_ going to think?

 

“Got one,” the demon who’d stabbed him said to the second, who had Trevor pinned to the ground with a hand gripping his throat. “Save that one for later.”

 

“Damn.” The other demon didn’t let Trevor go until he stopped moving- unconscious, he had to be unconscious, if only Noah could- but, Noah couldn’t do anything, as the demon stepped back, pulling his knife out as he did. He let out an anguished cry, and dropped to the ground.

 

“Your sacrifice is- I’d say noble? But, it really isn’t,” the demon said, dragging Noah to the edge of the Devil’s Tramping Grounds and slinging him into the circle like he weighed nothing. “But, it’s helpful.”

 

“ _Fuck you_ ,” Noah managed to gurgle out. The demon just snorted, and kicked him in the stomach on his way over to his associate, making Noah cry out once more.

 

He could barely even turn to watch the pair disappear in a could of smoke and sulfur-scent, taking Trevor’s body with them. _Fuck_ ; he had to get to his phone, get to the road, get to _something_ \- he had to call Faulk, let him know what was going on, get Trevor back-

 

But, he couldn’t do any of that. He could feel himself getting weaker, heat draining from his body, even as the ground beneath him pulsed hotter and hotter. This was it- Noah had, in some way, always known this was going to be it. Hunters didn’t get to retire- but, he’d thought that it was going to take at least a little bit longer than _this_ , and that he’d get to make some peace before it happened. His family would never know what happened to him. Jack would just think he’d ditched him, again, and Noah was going to end up bleeding out in the Devil’s Tramping Ground, killed by _one lousy fucking demon_.

 

What a waste of a life.

 

He at least managed to turn himself onto his back, staring up at the stars as he felt his vision fading; the last thing he saw was a flash of blue lightning, and then blinding white, before darkness overtook him.

  


Noah woke up in his motel bed- which, really, was _fucked up_ . If he’d died, he at _least_ thought that Heaven was going to be a little bit better than just a shitty Siler City motel. He groaned as he sat up, feeling a sharp pain in his stomach, and when he looked down, he found himself shirtless, with a large, raised red imprint of a hand on his stomach, where-

 

Where he’d been _stabbed_.

 

“What the _fuck_ ?” He frowned and sat up as much as he could manage, examining the mark. The stab wound itself, it seemed, was gone, but, the handprint stung like a _bitch_.

 

“You’re awake!”

 

Noah’s attention snapped to the other side of the room, where the guy who’d been manning the desk stepped out from his bathroom, smiling, and looking much less disheveled than Noah’d seen him. He was smiling, now, and wearing a nice-looking black suit, paired with a plain white button down. Noah’s first reaction was _demon_ , but- there was something else there. When he looked at the guy’s eyes, instead of being blown-out black, or any other color, they were a bright, clear blue.

 

“Who the fuck are you?” he asked.

 

The guy’s smile only got wider. “I’m the one who saved you, dude,” he said. “Duh.”

 

Noah gritted his teeth. “Your _name_.”

 

“ _Oh_ \- introductions, right, that’s a human thing.” The guy talked like some kind of high-school movie jock, in a slow- Canadian? Noah thought it was Canadian- accent that rolled smooth and low. It would’ve been kind of hot, except for the what-the-fuckery of the rest of the situation. “Haydniel- Haydn, for short. That’s a pretty human name, right, Haydn?”

 

“Haydniel.” Noah’s brow furrowed, and his frown got more severe. “What _are_ you?”

 

“It isn’t obvious?” The guy- _Haydniel_ , if he even was a guy at all- frowned too, cocking his head to the side like a confused puppy. “I’m an angel.”

 

“An angel.” Noah almost laughed. “There’s no such thing as _angels_ , fuck off.”

 

“There’s such a thing as demons,” Haydniel said. “So, why wouldn’t there be angels, too? Every darkness has an equal light- monsters, hunters. Demons? Angels.”

 

“I don’t believe you,” Noah said, because he fucking _didn’t_ . There were _rumors_ of angels in certain hunter circles, sure- but, they were just that: rumors.

 

Haydniel sighed. “You might want to step back a bit,” he said, and Noah huffed, but complied.

 

Once Haydniel seemed to deem that he was a safe distance away, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

 

Lightning started sparking off of everything in the room, the lights flickering and sparking with it, but Noah barely even noticed. Instead, his eyes were drawn to Haydniel, whose blue eyes had gone electric, and started to glow, and the shadows of wings cast all the way across the wall.

 

And then, as soon as it all was there, it was gone, and there was Haydniel, standing there and _smirking_ at him. “Believe me now?” he said.

 

“Fuck _off_ ,” Noah said, but he was more awed than anything. “Holy shit.”

 

“Holy part’s right, I guess,” Haydniel said, shrugging.

 

“Okay,” Noah said, pulling himself together. “Okay. So, you’re an angel- what’re you doing here?”

 

“Saving you,” Haydniel said. “Or- I guess I’m… stopping demons, but- recently, saving you. I was tracking the demons you were trying to fight- which, _totally_ cool job back there- but, they got away from me. By the time I’d caught up, they were gone and you were… _technically_ dead.”

 

“Technically dead,” Noah echoed. He was starting to feel a headache forming behind his eyes.

 

“Right.” Haydniel seemed almost sheepish, now, shuffling his feet like a shy child asking his crush on a date. “So… you’re welcome.”

 

“ _Right_.” Angels, demons, dying; this was… a lot for Noah to handle. He sat back down on the edge of his bed, putting his head in his hands. “Right, okay- so, you know what’s going on?”

 

“I mean… yes?” Haydniel didn’t sound sure of himself, and when Noah looked up, he was still shuffling restlessly. “I know that there’s… demons, and I know that they’re doing something big but, uh. I didn’t get _a lot_ of the details.”

 

“You’re an _angel_ ,” Noah said. “Aren’t you, like, supposed to know _everything_?”

 

“I’m not _God_ ,” Haydniel huffed, flushing a bit. “I’m just a foot soldier, man- they give me a job, and I go out and do it.”

 

“Fine,” Noah said, rocking to his feet again. “Look- thank you, for the… saving me, and the new tatttoo-”

 

“Sorry about that,” Hadyniel cut in. “I was kinda- out of a vessel, when I picked you up.”

 

“Sure, it’s whatever- better than a stab wound,” Noah brushed it off, even though he was _totally_ sure he was going to be freaking out about it later. “Just- thanks for your help, but, I’m just gonna… get back to work, now.” He had to call Faulk, and tell him what happened to Trevor, and hope to god he could track him down in time to save him.

 

Haydniel didn’t seem to get the hint, and only beamed. “Oh, your _hunt_ ,” he said. “Awesome, totally, yeah- where do we start?”

 

“Not _we_ ,” Noah said. “No ‘we’, just me. You can just… go back to playing harps for dead people, or whatever it is you do. Visiting shepherds on Christmas.”

 

“Oh, man, I _wish_ I did stuff that was that important.” There wasn’t a trace of irony in Haydniel’s voice, and it made Noah’s eye twitch just a little bit. “But, like I said- foot soldier. So, I can just stick with you, make sure you don’t get, like… murdered again.”

 

“I’ve managed pretty well so far,” Noah said, and cut the angel off before he could try and argue farther. “And, besides- I work alone.”

 

“You weren’t working alone yesterday,” Haydniel pointed out. “So, really, this won’t be much of change. Promise I won’t get in your way.”

 

Noah almost immediately turned him down- _but,_ then he took a moment to actually think it through. Whether he liked the guy or not, it could be- _useful_ , maybe, to have something a little more powerful than a knife and a couple of shotguns on his side, just in case things went south again like they did last night. Two demons had taken Trevor; who knew how many he’d find on the way to get him back?

 

“Long as you stay out of the way,” he settled on.

 

“ _Yes_.” Haydniel bounced on the balls of his feet and bounding after Noah like an excited puppy as he walked across the room. “Where to?”

 

“We need to track the demons,” Noah said, trying to ignore the angel standing barely even an inch away from his back as he dug through his bag for his phone. “And, I need to call Faulk and let him know one of his guys went down. We might need back up.”

 

“I thought you said you worked alone?” Haydniel asked. Noah could _definitely_ feel that headache coming on, now.

 

When he stood back up, he was almost nose to nose with Haydniel, staring directly into his smiling face, and it- it wasn’t a _bad_ face. The guy was cute, and tall, and- _and_ , Noah had to remember that this wasn’t a person. This was a who the hell knew how many centuries old being in the meatsuit of some random hotel clerk; he hadn’t thought the _clerk_ was all that cute, so, there was no reason that he should suddenly be interested now that he was being piloted by a golden retriever in a decent looking suit.

 

“I do,” he said, once he was finally able to knock some sense into himself and draw his eyes away from the angel’s mouth- which was _so fucking close_ , way too fucking close. “But, Faulk’s the one that put me onto the job, and sent Trevor out here in the first place. He’d want to know that one of his guys went down, probably want to send in some back-up.”

 

Haydniel shrugged. “Suit yourself, man.”

 

“I was going to anyway.” Noah made himself take a step back, and turned on his heel to dial his phone so he didn’t have to see the angel’s dopey baby blues anymore. This was serious; god only knew what they were doing to Trevor right now- and, _Noah_ knew for sure that he’d be dead by nightfall, if they didn’t get him back.

 

Faulk, once Noah explained the situation, was… less than pleased. “Fucking _Christ_ ,” he said. “Demons, really?”

 

“You figured that was the case anyway, right?” Noah felt a lot like a kid whose dad just found his failing report card.

 

“Yeah, but it seemed- not _small time_ , necessarily, but we didn’t think it was gonna be a _hellmouth ritual_ .” He could almost _feel_ Faulk’s glare through the phone, coupled with the sigh he heaved. “We’ve been trying to deal with all kinds of low-level demon activity in the area lately, so it just seemed like more of the same- escalated, a little, but. The same.”

 

“Well, it isn’t.” Noah had turned again, looping around the room to pace, and trying to ignore the fact that Haydniel was watching him like a tennis match as he moved across the room. “It’s- big, and we’re- working on tracking the demons right now. They’re not gonna make any moves until tonight, so, we’ve got until then.”

 

“Who’s we?” Faulk asked, and now, Noah actually paused to spare a glance at Haydniel, who looked bak at him, head cocked in question. _Golden retriever in a suit_ \- but, the question was, would it be better, or worse to tell Faulk that he was getting help from upstairs.

 

He thought about it for a few seconds and- _worse_ , probably decidedly worse.  

 

“Me,” Noah said, “And you- or, your guys, if you’ve got any to spare.”

 

Faulk hummed. “Do you think you need back up?”

 

“I’ll let you know if I do,” Noah said. “I think I’ve got it, though; I’ve… already got a lead on where they might be.”

 

“Keep me posted,” Faulk said, and then the line went dead- no ‘goodbye’ or ‘good luck.’

 

“Lying’s a sin,” Haydniel chirped, following him over to his bag again as he threw it over his shoulder.

 

“You’ll thank me for it, later,” Noah said. “It was either lie, or have Faulk all over my ass about working with an angel- which, I’m pretty sure he’d be even _less_ convinced actually exists.”

 

“Humans, man,” Haydniel huffed. “You guys take a lot of convincing, huh? And then, when we do show you- what? You’re _scared_ of us.”

 

“You can whine about it over drinks after we’re done killing demons,” Noah snorted, throwing open his hotel door and starting down the hall, not even bothering to check if Haydniel was following.

 

“I’m- not sure I’m supposed to drink?” Haydniel seemed to catch up in seconds, keeping pace just a hair’s breadth from Noah’s back- did no one teach angels about personal space? “And, I _definitely_ don’t think I can get drunk.”

 

“Sucks to be you then,” Noah said, shrugging. “Either way- get those angel powers warmed up. We’ve got demons to track.”

* * *

 

Driving around Siler City with an angel sticking his head out of the window of his car and sniffing like wasn’t the most inconspicuous way of doing the work that needed to be done, but, it was what they’d come down to, when Noah asked Haydniel what exactly it was that he needed to do to track down the demon’s hideout.

 

“Usually, I can smell them,” he’d said, and Noah’d been- skeptical, to say the least.

 

“You’re joking.”

 

“They _reek_ of sulfur.” Haydniel wrinkled his nose. “It’s pretty easy to scent a demon, if you know what you’re looking for- or, sniffing for, I guess?”

 

So, that lead them to driving the streets of Siler City, Haydniel hanging his head out the window and occasionally asking Noah things about the town. “Is that- _another_ antique store?”

 

Noah sighed, and replied through gritted teeth. “Yes.”

 

“ _Cool_.” Haydniel seemed, somehow, genuinely impressed. “You guys have got a lot of old stuff, huh?”

 

“I’m sure Heaven’s got a junkyard, somehwere,” Noah replied.

 

Haydniel frowned, and ducked his head back in momentarily. “Not really. I mean- we’re not really. Corporeal, up in Heaven, so we don’t really have… _things_.”

 

“You’ve got nothing?” Noah asked. “Sounds like a shittty heaven.”

 

“Oh, no, I mean- like, there’s _stuff_ there,” Haydniel said. “But… we don’t get any of it. Like, I have my angel blade? But, I guess I don’t really _own_ it.”

 

“You don’t… _have_ anything.” That was a weird concept to Noah- even when he’d first started hunting and not wanted to get into the card games or credit card fraud associated with it, and had tried running only on the cash he could scrounge up from his savings, he’d at least had _something_ ; his car, the clothes on his back, his phone, a couple of old CDs. The idea of just not owning anything was- pretty baffling.

 

“No.” Haydniel got quiet- wistful, almost, and stared down at his feet. “I… dunno. I kinda always wanted… _something_. Just one thing for me, that… makes me different than the rest of the soldiers. But- I’m not, really, anyway, so. It’s no big deal.”

 

God damn him, now Noah was _sad_ about this dipshit angel.

 

“What do you wanna have?” he asked.

 

Haydniel shrugged. “Just something,” he said. “Anything’s a pretty good start, I dunno. I’ll figure it out, I guess.”

 

Noah didn’t know what to say to that, so he said nothing, and eventually Haydniel just stuck his head back out the window and got to sniffing- but, the idea stuck in the back of Noah’s mind all the same.

 

“Stop.”

 

As soon as Haydniel said the word, Noah hit the break, which didn’t make him very popular with the people behind him- but, he didn’t care, and just waved them past. “What?”

 

“There.” Haydniel pointed to a boarded up building off the side of the road; an abandoned car garage, it seemed like. “They’re there.”

 

“Alright.” Noah started to pull off toward the garage, but, Haydniel put out a hand to stop him.

 

“Tonight,” he said. “We should- wait until tonight.”

 

“You’re fucking kidding me,” Noah said. “Trevor’s _in there,_ right now, and they’re doing god only know what to him right now-”

 

“He’s fine,” Haydniel said. “They- they need him, for the ritual, so they wouldn’t hurt him too much. But, if we _really_ want to make sure we catch them at the right time, we have to go tonight.”   


“What the hell’s ‘the right time?’” Noah asked. “We go in there now, we get him out, and then we-”

 

“Just _trust me_.” Haydniel sounded exasperated, and he was looking at Noah with a pleading look in his eye. “Noah. Trust me.”

 

They just stared each other down for a few seconds like that, and Noah wasn’t sure _why_ \- and, he hoped it wasn’t just because he’s suddenly become a sucker for a pretty face- but… he did. He did trust Haydniel, so he heaved a sigh, and turned his gaze back to the road. “You eat?”

 

“I… don’t have to, no,” Haydniel said.

 

“Sucks,” Noah grunted. “I’m hungry, so. It’s lunch time.”

 

The one thing that all small towns could be counted on to have was at least one almost run down diner, and Siler City wasn’t the exception to that rule. Noah slid into a corner booth that gave him a good view of the rest of the joint, and Haydniel slid in across from him. He’s staring at everything around him like a wide-eyed tourist taking in Time Square; it’s as endearing as it is annoying, though Noah tried to nip the former in the bud as soon as he could.

 

When their waitress came over, Noah rattled off his order without even having to look at the menu- and then, as an afterthought, added: “And, some fries for him.”

 

Haydniel was staring at him when she walked away. “I don’t eat.”

 

“Fries aren’t food,” Noah said. “They’re an experience. And, it’s rude to sit there and not order anything.”

 

“If you say so,” Haydniel said, though he sounded skeptical.

 

When the food actually came out, Noah dove right in, but Haydniel just- stared at his plate, until Noah sighed. “Try one.”

 

“I don’t-” Haydniel started, and then shook his head. “I shouldn’t.”

 

“Why not?” Noah asked. “Who’s gonna stop you?”

 

“I mean… no one, technically,” Haydniel said, though the way he looked around as if he was trying to see if someone was watching them said otherwise. “We’re just… not supposed to engage much, with… the culture.”

 

“It’s fries,” Noah said, deadpan. He pushed the plate a little closer to Haydniel. “Just- eat. I’m paying for them, so you might as well.”

 

Haydniel gave him a look- but, after Noah had tucked into his own, he caught him trying one with a look of utmost consternation on his face, and then his face lit up, and he cleaned the plate.

 

Noah tried not to find it cute. He really did.

  
  


After the diner, they still had a bit of time before night fell and they went in, which brought Noah to doing what he usually did when he had time to kill on a hunt: checking out the local drug stores. There was always some oddity there; a hat, shirt, keychain that was for some reason supposed to act as a memento of your time in even the most podunk of towns- and, this one was no different.

 

He was perusing the keychains as Haydniel hung around the candy section, and something caught his eye. It was nothing special, really, and he should’ve just passed over it- but, damn him and his new tag along angel both, once he saw it, he couldn’t drag his eyes away from it.

 

It was a little keychain- blue with white print, nothing remarkable about it except for the name on it: Haydn.

 

It wasn’t Haydniel, but- fuck it.

 

He snagged the keychain, and checked his watch. It wasn’t late- only around seven o’clock, but-

 

“We’re leaving,” Noah said, bringing his purchase up to the counter. It was paid for and shoved deep into his pocket by the time Haydniel came over, frowning. “It’s time

 

“It’s too early,” he said, but Noah shook his head.

 

“Too bad,” he said. “We waited around long enough- we’re going in, now.”

 

Haydniel looked mildly distressed, but didn’t protest any further, just silently following Noah back to the car and getting in.

 

The garage, when they got there, was just as abandoned as when they’d found it the first time. There was something in the air, around it- something tense that made the hair on the back of Noah’s neck stand on end, something wrong- but, he was angry enough that he managed to shove it entirely aside, and just grab a knife, and go.

 

“You can’t just _storm in there_ ,” Haydniel hissed, trying to cut Noah off- but, there wasn’t much to be done. Noah wanted this _done_ , and, it was going to be done tonight, right now.

 

The garage seemed empty inside, when Noah kicked the door in, which should have been his first sign that there was something wrong. There didn’t seem to be any movement, which should have been the second- but, everything narrowed down to tunnel vision when he saw Trevor sitting in the corner, tied to a chair.

 

“ _Fuck_ .” When Noah raced over and checked on him he was- thank _god_ , breathing; just unconscious, then, but otherwise unharmed. “Help me get him out of here.”

 

“I-” Before Haydniel could get out a word, or move another step, something dark rushed at him- a demon, hissing- and before Noah could step to help him, a second rushed at him.

 

“I thought we fucking dealt with you the _first_ time.” It was the same demon that had killed Noah in the clearing, which made it all the more satisfying when Noah was able to block a blow this time, and knock him back.

 

“I don’t go down that easy.”

 

“You found another hunter friend, did you?” the demon spat, pulling itself off the ground.

 

“Fuck you.”

 

It wasn’t Noah that spoke, this time- it was Haydniel, and what accompanied it was maybe the most fucking _badass_ thing Noah had ever seen.

 

It was almost the same show that Haydniel had put on for him in the hotel room- except, this time, instead of just shadows on the wall, the angel’s wings were _real_ \- dark brown and spanning almost across the room, electricity sparking off them at every turn. The vessel demon Haydniel had been fighting laid on the floor, motionless and ashen- dead, and now, he moved inch by inch towards the demon that had been taunting Noah. “My name is Haydniel, I’m an angel of the lord- and you _do not_ fuck with my charge.”

 

On that, Haydniel surged forward and plunged his blade into the demon’s chest- a blade Noah hadn’t even seen him _pull_ , and, just like that, the fight was done. “Uh,” he said, quite a few octaves higher than he normally spoke. “Holy shit? You could- do that the whole time?”

 

“Yes?” And, just like that, Haydniel turned from a total badass, right back to the puppy he’d been before.

 

“What did you mean, when you said- I’m your charge?” They should _definitely_ be gettin Trevor out, right now- and, Noah _was_ moving towards him, starting to tug at the ropes around his wrists- but, he had questions.

 

“I… kinda had to make a deal, when I brought you back.” Haydniel said. “I, uh- took a demotion, from footsoldier to… babysitter. Guardian angel.”

 

“You’re my guardian angel.” Noah just _had_ to stop and stare at that- and then, after a moment, laugh. “ _Fuck_ , okay.”

 

“You’re _welcome_ ,” Haydniel huffed, but, there wasn’t much bite to it. He walked over and nudged Noah aside, tugging at the ropes himself- and, _breaking_ them.

 

“Thanks.” Noah said, and then- “Really. Thanks.”

 

Haydniel shrugged, and then they- stood there, for a moment, in silence. “Are you…” Noah felt like a _dumbass_ asking the question ‘going to stay?’ so, he didn’t.

 

“I’m not really- supposed to be topside.” Haydniel seemed to get what he was saying anyway, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “So- can’t stay, but. If you’re ever… in trouble, just. Pray, I guess- call me. I’ll be there.”

 

“Right.” Noah cleared his throat, shoving his hands in his pocket, and hitting- _oh._

 

“I, uh-” He pulled the keychain from his pocket, and held it out to the angel. “You said you… wanted something. They didn’t have Haydniel, but… this is something, right?”

 

Haydniel looked at the keychain like it might disappear at any moment, and then, after taking it from Noah’s hand, broke out into the brightest grin Noah’d ever seen in his life. “Haydn,” he said, the edge of a laugh in his voice. “I… it’s good. It’s good, I like it.”

 

“Good.” Noah _wasn’t_ blushing about it, he absolutely wasn’t. “If you can- help me get him out to the car, I can… take him back, and go from there.”

 

“ _Right_ .” Haydniel _did_ blush, seemingly having forgotten that they were in the middle of- technically a crime scene. He helped Noah carry Trevor out to the car, and stood beside it after Noah had tucked him into the back seat, just staring. “This is- bye, then.”

 

“Guess so.” Noah shoved his hands deep in his pocket so that he didn’t do something stupid, like reach out and kiss this angel he’d just met. “I’ll- call you later?”

 

Haydniel laughed, dipping his head. “Yeah, yeah. Call me.”

 

And, between one blink and the next, he was gone- and, Noah shouldn’t have felt disappointed by the loss. He _shouldn’t_.

 

He did.

 

He shook his head, and held a deep inhale for a moment before he let it out, and got into the car. He still had to take care of Trevor, call Faulk, and figure out their next move. The hunt seemed like it was over, but, the hunt _ing_ never was.

 

* * *

He and Trevor parted ways in the morning. When Noah checked out, there didn’t seem to be anyone at the front desk- so, he dropped his key, and went outside. The motel parking lot was vacant, but, that wasn’t surprising; the sun was barely up over the horizon, and honestly, even _Noah_ didn’t want to be awake.

 

He was shocked out of his stupor, though, by something on his dashboard when he got in the car.

 

A feather. A big, brown feather- much bigger than any bird he knew of could have had- and, something else.

 

A keychain.

 

His heart stopped until he flipped it over, and then he couldn’t help but laugh. It was identical to Haydniel’s, but, instead, it said NOAH, in simple white font.

 

Noah looped the key onto his ring, started the car, and left Siler City with a prayer on his lips.

**Author's Note:**

> i did end up doing at least a LITTLE research for this fic: the devil's tramping ground is a Real Ass place in north carolina!


End file.
